There’s so many ways you could dissect what the Knicks need to do ahead of Game 2 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup with the Pacers, but there’s really only one that actually matters. The Knicks need to make shots.

I know that’s almost`practical joke analysis, like saying, “Well, they need to outscore ’em!” Like, you don’t say. So you’re saying if one team scores more than the other team that team will win? Yes. Intriguing.

So, yes, it’s that dumb, but it’s also true.

So far in this postseason, the Knicks have been excellent at taking shots. They’ve had no problem taking them. But it’s the making them that’s really the most important part of the shot process. Anyone can just take them. The good news is that the Knicks have a good amount of fellows adept at doing just that thing, mainly a pair named Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith. These two gents are not only able to hit the wide open, comfortable type shots, but the double-clutching, off balance, possibly ill-advised variety, as well. They just haven’t for quite some time.

Instead, we’ve seen them miss from three, watched things rattle out from in close and been witness to array of unsuccessful mid-range heaves. It’s been a bit of an epidemic, like food poisoning or typhus.

Whether the Knicks could sustain their shooting has been pretty much a season-long question, one that was semi-answered when they kept it up for nearly an entire year. But they’ve hit a pretty severe slump at something of an inopportune time, especially when considering how elite offense was expected to be their catalyst this postseason. But one has to imagine that this spell will break. I certainly believe it will and I’d like it to start this evening.